A reading list for housing people
The data, the books, the tools behind the work.
Every primary source I cite, every reference I keep close. Updated as the list changes.
№ 01 — Primary Data
Where the numbers actually come from.
01 Census Bureau Building Permits Survey Monthly and annual permit data by geography, structure type, and unit count. The authoritative source for local permit pipeline data. Datasets 02 HUD New Residential Construction Monthly starts, completions, and under-construction data from Census/HUD. Released mid-month for the prior month. Datasets
№ 02 — Papers & Research
The academic and policy work worth reading.
№ 03 — Links Library
Links from our Substack Articles and Notes
Fresh from the latest post, Data Dig : Sizing The Housing Supply Shortfall.
01 Understanding the Origins and Impact of the Law of Supply and Demand “supply and demand” investopedia.com 02 U.S. Capital Markets | Multifamily Report 2026 Q1 “may even decline” colliers.com 03 The Size of the Housing Shortage: 2021 Data “National Association of Home Builders estimated” eyeonhousing.org 04 The Outlook for US Housing Supply and Affordability “report from Goldman Sachs” goldmansachs.com 05 The National Housing Deficit Grew by 159,000 Homes in 2023, Reaching 4.7 Million “Zillow gauged” zillow.com 06 Make it count: Measuring our housing supply shortage “The Brookings Institution put” brookings.edu 07 Housing is Critical Infrastructure: Social and Economic Benefits of Building More Housing “National Association of Realtors commissioned” nar.realtor 08 Housing Supply: Still Undersupplied by Millions of Units “Freddie Mac estimated” freddiemac.com 09 Housing Supply Gap Exceeds 4 Million Homes in 2025 “Realtor.com reported” realtor.com 10 Estimates of a “Housing Shortage” “Congressional Research Service compiled” congress.gov
Templates
The spreadsheets I actually use.
The same templates I open every Monday — for tracking starts data, building a quick lot pro-forma, and stress-testing affordability under rate scenarios.
Free for paid subscribers.
Get the templates →Starts & Permits TrackerXLSX · auto-pulls Census API
↓ Download Lot Pro-Forma WorksheetXLSX · land-cost-to-margin walkthrough
↓ Download Affordability Scenario ModelXLSX · rate, price, income sensitivity
↓ Download Year-End Chart PackZIP · PNGs + CSVs
↓ Download Get the work as it ships
Free essays, in your inbox.
One long read every other week. A Data Dig the morning the Census drops.